Hi All,

Kindly evaluate my profile and suggest some Dream, Reach and Safe schools for me.

Education: PGDBM (MBA - Marketing specialization) from IPE (OU Campus, Hyderabad) with 75%
Bachelor of Information Technology (from Manipal University) with 80%
XII standard - 83.2%
X Standard - 80%

Overall GPA is 3.97 (as calculated through the website Wes.org)

Work Experience: 5 Years in IT Industry but worked in 3 different departments - Business Development, Presales and Software Testing. Right now working as a Quality Analyst.

GMAT - 670 (Q -48, V - 34, AWA - 4.5)

Extra Curricular Activities: Won many prizes in Caroms and Badminton in Inter College competitions in my Degree and PG.
Given some stage performances (Dancing)
Won many prizes in Business Quizzing
Involved in many charitable activities in my earlier company. I am trying to initiate a charitable trust in the present company so that all the employees can donate amount through their payrolls each month and that money can be used for educating underprivileged children in and around Hyderabad.

I want to apply for 2012 Fall Semester. I want to do an MBA again in order to change my career (want to get in to consulting), to have international exposure, increase my network and to move up the career ladder. I have inquired with University of Virginia and Emory University regarding doing an MBA again and they said they are fine with it as I have not done MBA in USA.

Kindly let me know if you need any more information.

I will be waiting for your reply.

Thanks,
Ramakanth

Hi Ramakanth,

Thanks for writing in. It's interesting you mention UVA and Emory as those were schools that came to mind as I was reading your entry. I would rate UVA as a Dream/Reach, and Emory as a reach. I see a few issues you'll have to overcome regardless of school:

1) Why you are seeking a second MBA? Even if the school will consider your application they'll want to understand your motivations. What changed that made you want to switch industries? What will another two years in school help you achieve that you couldn't achieve now?

2) Classification in the "male, Indian, IT" cohort. Your work experience appears very traditional for this group and so you will need to work very hard to differentiate yourself. Do you have any leadership in these roles you can point to?

3) Your GMAT score is a bit unbalanced toward the Quant side, and the group you're associated with (and thus competing against) is often categorized as having high scores. Again, this is another weakness you would have to overcome.

I do think UVA and Emory are good places for you to aim high at. Depending on your other restrictions (size, geography) you may want to look at Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Indiana and other schools of that grouping. In terms of a safe choice, you would want to look around top-40-to top-50.

Hope this is helpful and good luck!

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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